Mangalore: Hurricane Predicted – Fishermen, Farmers Worried

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Nov 11: At a time when Tamilnadu has been reeling under heavy rains that have claimed 70 lives in incidents of earth caving in, drowning etc., and the meteorological department has predicted that the intensity of rains, which badly hit Nilgiri district, will come down within a day, the coastal states of Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat have been warned that hurricane of high intensity might hit them because of the deep depression created above the east central parts of the Arabian Sea. Heavy rains coupled with cold winds were experienced in the twin-districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada on Tuesday November 10.

The department said that several parts of Coastal Karnataka may get heavy rains in the next two days. The fishermen have been asked to stay put on the shores, as speeding winds are expected to cause turbulence at sea.

The people of the coast had to put up with frequent power failures on Tuesday November 10. Mulki, Suratkal, Sullia, Karkala, Kundapur, Udupi etc., got continuous rains. Puttur taluk got seven cms of rain.

Lightning claimed the lives of two buffalos owned by Sanjeev Shetty of Haluvalli village in Udupi taluk. An uprooted coconut tree partially smashed a house in Kelarkalabettu in Udupi. A woman named Sumati Devadiga (30) from Alur village was hit by lightning when she was in the kitchen. She was injured, and admitted to a private hospital in Kundapur. Two cows and a calf along with the cateleshed they were in, owned by Vasanti Shetty, were destroyed in Hallady-Harkady village near Kundapur. Lightning also destroyed several equipments besides injuring a woman named Bifatumma (50) in Kasargod district. Several boats that had ventured into the sea from Malpe fishing port got moored at Karwar because of choppy conditions. Those which were not far off from the shores of Malpe, Mangalore, Gangolli etc., returned to the bases as early possible.

The rain has also brought with it, worries for the areca nut growers, who had laid out their areca nut harvest for drying. Ripe coffee fruits, which were to be harvested shortly, are falling to the ground in Chikmagalur and Kodagu districts, inflicting heavy losses on the estate owners.

Bhatkal and Mani got eight cms of rain each.